3 years ago today, EVIL beat Kazuchika Okada to win the New Japan Cup and then betrayed LIJ by joining Bullet Club

13 comments

1. It still seems like a fever dream.

2. 3 years ago?! I can’t keep track of time.

3. Legitimately one of the worst booking decisions in NJPW history. EVIL turning is fine but this world title reign was dreadful, did nothing for him, did nothing for any of his opponents, and just ate up time that should’ve been Naito’s.

4. I still remember criticizing his push/work after the Hiromu match, and getting mass downvoted and tied how great the run is.

   Within a couple months, everyone was repeating my talking points.

5. Great build and reveal, horrible subsequent championship run.

   For those who aren’t familiar, with Naito as world champion (and interncontinental champion) there was tension in LIJ. SANADA, Shingo and Hiromu all had some rumblings of perhaps wanting to face Naito for the title, with Hiromu set to do so as a part of the anniversary show where the lightweight and heavyweight champs face off. So the whole tournament you’re left wondering who’s going to betray Naito, and EVIL quietly advances to the finals… Yet he didn’t seem like the guy who would. How wrong we were.

6. This was horrible. If KENTA or Jay lived in Japan at the time it wouldn’t of happened. BC was left with just Yujiro, Taiji, Gedo and Jado during the pandemic and wanted to keep them strong. All it did was ruin Naito’s run on top. They had 3 Main event title matches and a G1 match it felt like Lesnar vs Reigns.

7. It was a good idea at the time, most of the top heels couldn’t get into the country because of COVID lockdowns and they needed a big heel, so there’s EVIL with a built in story of wanting to beat both Okada and Naito, give the fans a good moment in that baseball stadium with a Naito winning back the belts. I wish they hadn’t made him look so weak all the time, he needed Dick Togo to choke his opponent out to win but lost more often then not after dropping the belts. The really agonizing thing was that because crowds couldn’t cheer or boo, its all this heelish antics done to absolute silence, which made it just awful to watch. Its no surprise I started enjoying House of Torture once crowds could make noise again.

8. This is NJPWs equivalent to Thanos’ snap

9. Pandemic literally hit, people thought the world was ending, so Gedo just said “Fuck it” and went all in on an EVIL push.

10. Im not a devoted NJPW watcher but check in from time to time, it was obvious that they were trying to get publicity using Evils push as a shock factor after their return from the pandemic. Kinda sorry for Evil that he became a transitional champion but he can at least add his name in history as a NJPW WHC.

11. 3 years…. Damn I’m kinda old

12. I’ll still contest that this was a good decision and EVIL being the one to turn on LIJ was the best call they could’ve made since he didn’t really fit the super-babyface group anymore. How they handled everything after the title win? Different story.

13. I understand that given the circumstances, they had to do something the grab people’s attention, but damn I feel like this actually brought EVIL down the card after he lost the belt.